Planning minister: skyscrapers make Melbourne's CBD hostile

The proliferation of skyscrapers in central Melbourne has made many city streets "hostile" and windswept, new Planning Minister Dick Wynne says.

"There are some parts of the city that are quite hostile at street level," Mr Wynne said, in his first major interview since returning to the planning portfolio. "The way some of the buildings have been constructed, you can be blown off your feet."

Minister for Planning Dick Wynne in Royal Park, Parkville.Credit:Penny Stephens

In December, just days after being sworn in as planning minister, Mr Wynne was struck by a heart attack.

Now, back at work and in what he says is full health, he has started making decisions, last week approving demolition of Dallas Brooks Hall in East Melbourne and construction of a sprawling 12-level apartment complex.

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Mr Wynne said it was clear too many poor-quality apartments were being built, and he vowed to bring in long-discussed minimum standards for Victoria.

Forty-four per cent of all new dwellings built in the state last year were apartments, and he said this meant better quality design and construction was needed.

"I can take you to developments very close by where the whole apartment is no bigger than [a small] room. Where I could barely get into the bathroom. Where the shower was over the toilet. And this is selling for $300,000-plus. And you think, 'Is this the quality that we want?' The answer is absolutely no," he said.

Favourite buildings

Asked by The Age to nominate half a dozen of his favourite buildings, Mr Wynne's selections ranged from a small bowls club in the Flagstaff Gardens to the heritage-listed streets of East Melbourne.

Buildings that got his tick of approval include Benalla Art Gallery, pictured below. Designed by Philip Sargeant and Colin Munro, it opened in 1975. "It's the most beautifully sited regional art gallery," he said. "It's spectacular."

He said the Republic Tower at the corner of La Trobe and Queen streets, was a beautiful building. Designed by Nonda Katsalidis, the 34-storey tower pictured below caused a stir when plans for it were unveiled in the 1990s.

"Quite a few of us were looking aghast at it [because of the height]. But you look at it now and think, 'What's the problem?' It's a tall building but a good building."

The Brambuk Cultural Centre in Halls Gap is another of Mr Wynne's favourites. Richmond architect Gregory Burgess designed Brambuk, which means white cockatoo. "It's a spectacular design, and tells the story of Aboriginal culture in the Halls Gap region," Mr Wynne said.

The streets around East Melbourne as they come off the Fitzroy Gardens – one of which is pictured below – were also nominated by the minister as some of the city's best preserved and most striking. "Walk around East Melbourne, it's spectacular. Some of our beautiful built heritage is extraordinary."

Mr Wynne said one of his top CBD buildings was the bowling club in Flagstaff Gardens (below). Designed by Melbourne City Council's in-house team, this sustainable building was built in 2010 after the old bowls clubhouse burnt down. "It was a nondescript council building and bowls club before, and it's now a fantastic community space," he said.

A former housing minister, Mr Wynne also nominated public housing built in the 1990s in Canning Street, North Melbourne, as one of the city's best places.

These apartments, pictured below, replaced some rather grim concrete four-storey walk-up flats. "It demonstrated you could rebuild these estates and provide public housing tenants with quality, affordable places to live," Mr Wynne said.

Mr Wynne is now mulling over how to tackle some of the unfinished business left on his desk by predecessor Matthew Guy, now Opposition Leader.

Among them is a controversial plan for an 82-level apartment and hotel tower for Crown Casino that would overshadow the Shrine – something Mr Wynne has flagged he would not allow.

Concern about density levels

Mr Wynne said he had significant concerns about the levels of density that had been approved in Melbourne's CBD.

A recent report completed by senior city planner Leanne Hodyl found high-rise apartment towers in central Melbourne being built and approved at four times the densities allowed in some of the world's most crowded cities.

"They are densities that give you reason to pause," said Mr Wynne, who argued he was not opposed to tall towers. "Height in appropriate settings is a good thing. But we all get about the place on the ground."

Mr Wynne also:

* said he would not tear up the Napthine government's Plan Melbourne strategy for the city, instead pledging to review its contents.

* promised Melbourne's urban growth boundary would not be shifted, and said the city had enough residential land to grow for 30 years.

* said he would not move to reject donations from property developers. "Is it legal for these people to donate? Yes, but that's their business. If there is the suggestion that it comes with other opportunity, the answer is no; you don't pay to get access to me."

And, in a rare show of generosity towards the opposition, Mr Wynne said Mr Guy had been right to reject a 100-storey tower proposed by developer CBUS Property on the site of the National Mutual tower, at the corner of Collins and William streets.

"The one free kick I will give Matthew Guy is that he actually knocked off something in Collins Street ... that overshadowed the [Yarra] river," Mr Wynne said.

He said there were some "sacrosanct" parts of Melbourne that should not be overshadowed.

"There are some things in the civic realm that are not negotiable: you don't overshadow the Shrine. You don't overshadow the parliamentary precinct. You don't overshadow the rivers. You don't overshadow our beaches – we are not Surfers Paradise."

Lord Mayor of Melbourne in 1991, Mr Wynne oversaw the closure of Swanston Street to traffic and helped start the council's successful Postcode 3000 policy, which has dramatically boosted the number of CBD residents.

"When I was mayor there were about 200 hippies and squatters – no one lived [in the CBD]. What have we got now, 30,000 [residents]?"

One of the most controversial planning applications sitting on Mr Wynne's desk is for an 82-level apartment tower that will also serve as a new hotel for Crown Casino. Located at 1 Queens Bridge Street, the tower would overshadow part of the Shrine forecourt for about 15 minutes on winter afternoons.

Clay Lucas is a senior reporter for The Age. Clay has worked at The Age since 2005, covering urban affairs, transport, state politics, local government and workplace relations for The Age and Sunday Age.